In an interview with the Financial Times, Sir Michael Wilshaw said: “The examination system that we have has got to be seen to be ruthless and stretching all pupils.” But, he said, it was possible to do that “within the existing system”.

The programme, championed by Ed Miliband, is being overseen by Jon Trickett, the Shadow Cabinet Office Minister. “The Labour Party should be the engine of social mobility. It’s particularly important that our MPs reflect all the different parts of our country,” Mr Trickett said. “In the past, there were routes into Parliament for manual workers, engine drivers or miners.

Labour still has some MPs from a mining background, including Dennis Skinner, who regularly baits David Cameron during Prime Ministers’ Questions. However, many of the party’s most senior figures — including Mr Miliband, Ed Balls and Andy Burnham — became MPs after serving as political advisers.

Mr Trickett said the party was not “harking back to a nostalgic past”, but an attempt to link Labour back with the working communities that it was trying to represent.

“Society has changed hugely over the last few decades and we live our lives in very different ways. Now over one million people work in call centres. Yet, I cannot imagine how such a person could ever become a member of parliament,” he said.

The PM has to decide whether the Chancellor is a statesman devoted full-time to keeping Britain’s precious Triple-A credit rating. Or a political bruiser who risks his credibility in unseemly brawls with Ed Balls.

It is Mr Osborne, not Nick Clegg’s Lib Dem rabble, who is to blame for the Government’s collapse in public esteem.

People don’t mind Westminster thuggery if it works. But torpedoing his own Budget with a catalogue of unforced errors and crass incompetence is unforgivable.

In a few short weeks, Mr Osborne has shredded his reputation and turned the Coalition into a lame duck administration.

It takes a special talent to cast Mr Balls on the right side of an economic argument but Mr Osborne somehow managed to do so.

But his verdict on Lords reform was also interesting. David Cameron and Nick Clegg are going to make one final attempt to get Lords reform through the Commons, almost certainly involving a slimmed-down elected element. But, according to PoliticsHome, Brady said he did not think the Tory rebels would accept any elected peers.

I think a great many colleagues on both sides of the House of Commons have a principled concern with the introduction of an elected element. So I can't, of course, say it's impossible that any elected element might be acceptable to the House of Commons. But I think it is certainly difficult to see most of the 91 Conservative members [who rebelled over Lords reform], and a good many of those who spoke on the Labour benches against the bill on Monday and Tuesday last week, shifting their ground on what for many of them is a really fundamental obstacle.

Updated at 12.34pm BST

11.50am BST

Generally I try to avoid the "relaunch" school of journalist nomenclature, but sometimes it's impossible to resist. This was a coalition relaunch. Here are the main points.

• Cameron said that he was "more committed" to the coalition than he was in 2010. That was because the global economic situation was more perilous than it was two years ago, he said.

I just want to say I am even more committed to coalition government, to making this coalition government, today than I was in May 2010 when Nick Clegg and I formed this government. I believe it has real purpose, a real mission.

Cameron also said that those Conservatives who wanted the coalition to end (like Edward Leigh, presumably) should ask themselves whether it would really be in Britain's interests to have a minority government.

• Cameron said a review of the coalition agreement would be published at the end of the summer. It would list those items in the coalition agreement that have already been achieved, and set out the coalition's priorities for the next two and a half years, he said.

• Cameron and Clegg both claimed that coalition had been a success. Although they acknowledged that their two parties did not agree on everything, they said they were united on the need for economic renewal. And Cameron said the coalition had been able to take difficult decisions, on issues like public sector pensions, that single-party governments had ducked.

• Cameron and Clegg both played down the prospects of Lords reform bringing down the coalition. This is what Clegg said about the subject.

You also get some bumps in the road in the Westminster village as we did last week on House of Lords reform. House of Lords reform so happens to be one of those things that gets politicians really hot under the collar in the Westminster village, particularly those who are opposed to change. It always has done and I imagine it always will. But none of that will stop us from continuing to govern in the national interest for the whole country.

Clegg and Cameron both declined to discuss the nature of a possible compromise on Lords reform, or whether the failure of the Lords reform bill would lead to the Lib Dems blocking the boundary changes the Tories want.

• Cameron and Clegg both sidestepped a question about whether they were still opposed to a third runway at Heathrow. Clegg said that this was a complicated issue and that a call for evidence on airport capacity would be published within the next few months.

Clegg says Britain is still relying on infrastructure "which in many ways has got one foot in the 19th century".

Today's announcement will address this, he says. And it will help to heal the north-south divide.

Cameron says one of the coalition's best kept secrets is the fact that it has a successful industrial policy. Britain has become a net exporter of cars, he says.

Updated at 12.09pm BST

11.17am BST

More questions.

Q: Will the summer review be a new coalition agreement?

Cameron says it will be slimmer than the original coalition agreement. It will be a mid-term review, looking backwards at what has been done, and what it left to do, but also looking forwards at what should happen next.

Q: What are the odds on the coalition lasting until 2015?

Cameron says he would not bet against it.

Clegg says he would put "a considerable amount of money" on the coalition lasting until 2015.

11.12am BST

A question from ITN.

Q: When will Olympic security be sorted out?

Clegg says this is being sorted out, and will be sorted out.

He and Cameron both sit on the committee dealing with this.

Britain will deliver a world-class Olympics, he says.

Cameron says the government had contingency plans. It is using them. It will do whatever it takes to deliver a safe and secure games.

Updated at 12.10pm BST

11.10am BST

A question from the BBC.

Q: Aren't you like a couple saying you are staying together for the sake of the children?

Cameron says in the Labour government ministers would not even share transport to summits. He and Clegg get on better than people did in that government.

On Lords reform, he says he wants to deliver all of what is in the coalition agreement. "And that is what we will go ahead and do."

The two parties have put in place ways of reaching agreement on issues not in the coalition agreement, he says.

Clegg says he has lost count of the number of times he has read predictions saying the coaliton would fall apart.

Every singe time we have confounded the sceptics and the critics.

The coalition does not sit easily with those who do not like new things, he says.

Clegg says the economic headwinds are more serious than expected two years ago. It is no wonder that some people are losing their nerve. But he and Cameron are not losing their nerve.

Cameron says some people never liked the coalition. But do they really think Britain would be better off with a minority government that could not carry through its decisions.

In difficult times, challenging economic times, having a government that can take decisions is vital, he says.

11.05am BST

A question from Sky.

Q: Is this relaunch all about the fact that both parties are afraid of a general election?

Cameron says the coalition has had "one or two" problems like Lords reform in the last two years. But only one or two. All governments have had problems with Lords reform.

But the coalition has been able to take decisions that single-party governments failed to take, he says. Again, he cites public sector pension reform. It has not been "a lowest common denominator government", he says.

On Lords reform, he says people have strong views. But it is not an indicator of the health of the government.

Clegg says any party worried about short-term popularity would not come into government at a time like this.

But you can't duck things just because circumstances are difficult.

Most people are fair-minded, he says. They realise there are not instant solutions to these problems.

11.01am BST

They are taking questions now.

Q: With all this rail investment, is HS2 really necessary?

Yes, says Cameron. Britain needs a new west coast rail line. You could either build a general one. But it makes more sense to build a high-speed one, he says.

That bill will be coming forward soon.

Updated at 12.11pm BST

11.00am BST

Nick Clegg is speaking now.

The reasons for the coalition are stronger than they were in 2010.

Clegg says he does not always agree with Cameron. And Cameron does not agree with Clegg about everything.

There have been "bumps in the road". House of Lords reform is one of those things. It is one of those subjects that excites politicians.

But that does not mean that the coalition parties cannot work together on the big issues that matter.

The government is focused on economic renewal, and social renewal.

The economic crisis was not just a banking crisis. It was a crisis involving an unbalanced economic model and young people not being able to contribute to the economy. It was also an ethical crisis, involving irresponsbile capitalism.

The government is addressing these issues, he says. He mentions programmes like apprenticeships, the Youth Contract, investment, the Green Investment Bank and lifting the tax allowance.

Turning to social renewal, Clegg says he and Cameron both believe it cannot be right that youngsters see their future determined by their upbringing.

This government has been pouring money into helping children when it makes the most difference, when they are very young, he says. He mentions the pupil premium and the extended free nursery care.

From next year, toddlers from disadvantaged families will get free nursery care from the age of two, he says.

Clegg says by 2015 he does not want people to think the coalition "scraped through". He wants people to think it made a difference.

10.52am BST

David Cameron and Nick Clegg

David Cameron is starting now.

He makes a comment about meeting in the train depot to help headline writers with being on track etc.

By the time the investment programme announced today is complete, three quarters of rail journeys will be made on electrified routes, he says.

He mentions the Midlands project. It has been talked about for years, he says. But this government has got the investment and got things moving.

There is more to come this week. George Osborne and Danny Alexander will be announcing plans to use the government's balance sheet to underwrite investment.

Some wonder whether the coalition will last, or whether it should end.

But, Cameron says, he believes even more strongly in the coalition than he did in 2010.

The world has become more dangerous. Weak governments are buffetted by events.

There is also a huge momentum behind the agenda that the Conservatives and the Lib Dems share.

Both parties want to rebalance the economy, he says. And he mentions other shared policy aims (but not House of Lords reform!)

The coalition has achieved reforms that have eluded other governments, like welfare reform and public sector pension reform.

The government will publish a mid-term review at the end of the summer. It will set out what the government has achieved, and what it hopes to achieve before 2015.

Today's announcement is another example of a long-term decision that will strengthen the economy.

Earlier I quoted Maria Eagle suggesting that Labour really deserved much of the credit for today's rail investment announcement. (See 9.56am.) Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, is making a similar point. This is from Jonathan Edwards, the Plaid transport spokesman.

If electrification of the whole Valleys Lines network, including to Swansea, is announced today then it will be excellent news, coming as a result of the foundations laid by Ieuan Wyn Jones when he was transport minister at the assembly and the cross-party support for these improvements.

However, this will only mean that we have caught up with our rightful position, not taken any advantage.

Wales has waited far too long for projects such as these to be announced and there has never been a good reason why London has delayed.

Electrification will make our transport network cheaper, greener and more efficient, and we must make sure that those benefits are available not just in south Wales, but in west Wales, mid Wales and north Wales as well.

If Wales gets its fair share, £1.9bn, from the £33bn being spent on High Speed 2 in England then we can revolutionise our transport system in Wales.

10.01am BST

Here's a picture of one of those many ministerial visits I mentioned earlier. (See 9.00am.)

Reading Chronicle (@rdgchronicle)

Home secretary Theresa May at Reading Station today announcing western link to Heathrow and 9.4bn gov rail investment twitter.com/rdgchronicle/s…

Today the government has issued a strong vote of confidence in the railway, and in our ability to deliver sustainable economic growth through development of, and investment in, the network. It is also a vote of confidence in the success of rail over the last decade, with over one million more trains per year with half a billion more passengers, at record levels of safety, punctuality and satisfaction.

From Maria Eagle, the shadow transport secretary

The Tory-led government cut the rail investment plans they inherited by more than three-quarters of a billion pounds and have presided over two years of dither and delay over vital rail projects and train procurement. It was Labour that announced an ambitious programme of rail electrification back in 2009. It's a bit rich for ministers now to take credit for these plans, not least when they have spent the last two years delaying these schemes.

From Richard Price, chief exercutive of the Office of Rail Regulation

The government's plan for the railways between 2014 and 2019 sets out a massive programme of investment towards achieving a world-class rail service, underlining the importance of rail in economic growth and connectivity across England and Wales. We now need to ensure that the plan is affordable, and to work with the rail industry to set out in detail how it can be delivered.

From Bob Crow, the RMT general secretary

What we need is investment in rail today, not yet another political promise of jam tomorrow. All of the rail projects on this shopping list have been talked about for years and, with the surge in passenger demand, we cannot afford further delays like the ongoing Thameslink fleet replacement fiasco. We have the chance to create thousands of rail jobs if the politicians wake up and get these projects moving.

9.48am BST

My request for information about a "largest investment since the Victorian era" factcheck has already prompted this response from David Leask, a journalist on the Glasgow Evening Times.

David Leask (@Leasky)

@AndrewSparrow I think the west coast mainline upgrade cost about the same as scheme unveiled today, give or take a bln or two.

Maria Eagle, the shadow transport secretary, has been giving interviews this morning about the rail announcement. If Bob Crow was listening earlier, he may have got excited when Eagle hinted that a Labour government might renationalise the railways. According to PoliticsHome, this is what she told Radio 5 Live when she was asked about renationalising the network.

We’ve said very clearly is that the industry because of its fragmentation introduces a lot of extra costs, we need to look at that. There’s £1.2bn of extra costs in the industry because of the fragmentation created by privatisation. We’re considering doing things differently and not keeping the current structure of the industry but trying to do it in a more efficient way, so we’ve not ruled out making changes in the way in which the industry is structured and works.

This clearly triggered a panic alarm at Labour HQ because I received an unprompted text later telling me not to read too much into what she was saying. That's polite spin-speak for saying that Eagle went a bit too far. A party source offered this clarification.

We are in the middle of a policy review. The focus will be on getting the best deal for the fare payer and the taxpayer. The focus is not on mass renationalisation, but local solutions.

Eagle herself clearly got the message too. When asked about renationalisation on BBC News just now, she replied: "We are not looking specifically at that."

9.13am BST

Just in case you did not appreciate that the £9bn rail announcement is A Big Story, the government has been putting out endless quotes about it from cabinet ministers. For the record, here are some of them.

From David Cameron

From Crossrail, high-speed rail and now the billions of pounds of investment we are announcing today, this government is committed to taking the long-term decisions to deliver growth and jobs. In what is the biggest modernisation of our railways since the Victorian era, this investment will mean faster journeys, more seats, better access to stations, greater freight links and a truly world-class rail network.

From Nick Clegg

This is the biggest expansion in railways in over 150 years, with more than £9bn of investment across the country. Whilst we inherited a deficit greater than any in our nation's peace-time history, we knew that we had to give the country the boost it needs, to build great railways and make journeys better for the millions of hard-working people who use the train every day.

The 'Electric Spine' will make a significant difference for passengers, linking London, the Midlands and Yorkshire in a much more efficient rail line, connecting the south and north more effectively than ever before.

As someone who cares deeply about the environment, the opportunity to dramatically expand rail, a greener form of transport than aviation or road, is very exciting indeed. This investment will help people to choose trains over cars, reduce carbon emissions and provide a rail system that is faster, more reliable and greener.

From George Osborne

I am pleased that the Northern Hub will be funded in full as part of the government's plans, which is a significant boost for the major towns and cities of the north, helping to rebalance the UK economy and enabling growth and regeneration throughout the regions.

This government is making more funds available to invest in rail projects than at any time since the Victorian era, and shows that the government is committed to delivering on its promises to support investment in public infrastructure that will support economic growth.

From Justine Greening, the transport secretary

Investment on this scale, in every region of the country, shows how this coalition Government is focused on delivering an affordable, reliable and faster railway network that drives jobs and growth.

These plans to increase capacity and shorten journey times on intercity, commuter and freight services are, alongside our plans for high speed rail, absolutely key to securing our country's prosperity in the decades ahead.

Has anyone done a factcheck on the "largest investment since the Victorian era" claim? If you know of one, please let me know

This morning more details about the rail investment have been released. Here's the early story from the Press Assocation.

A £9.4bn package of rail projects, including £4.2bn worth of new schemes, was announced by the Government today. Plans include the electrification of the Midland Main Line in what was hailed by prime minister David Cameron as the "biggest modernisation of our railways since the Victorian era". But Labour said it had announced rail electrification plans in 2009 and it was "a bit rich" for coalition government ministers to take credit now after presiding over "two years of dither and delay". And campaigners said they feared the investment would be paid for by higher rail fares, while transport union the RMT said the projects announced today "had been talked about for years".

The announcement today covers the period 2014-19. A total of £5.2 billion worth of projects have already been committed to for this period. These include completion of the ongoing Crossrail and Thameslink schemes, and electrification between London and Cardiff, Manchester to Liverpool and Preston and across the Pennines. The £4.2bn worth of new schemes include: • Upgrades to stations and tracks creating enough capacity around cities for an additional 140,000 daily rail commutes at peak times. This includes £350m for lengthening of platforms at London's Waterloo station; • Faster journeys and more train capacity from £240m of improvements along the East Coast Main Line from north east England down through Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire to London; • The creation of a high-capacity "electric spine" running from Yorkshire and the West Midlands to South Coast ports. This comprises an £800m electrification and upgrade from Sheffield - through Nottingham, Derby and Leicester - to Bedford, completing the full electrification of the Midland Main Line out of London St Pancras and electrification of the lines from Nuneaton and Bedford to Oxford, Reading, Basingstoke and Southampton; • Taking electric rail beyond Cardiff to Swansea, completing the full electrification of the Great Western Main Line out of London Paddington at a total cost of more than £600m, and electrifying the Welsh Valley lines, including Ebbw Vale, Maesteg and the Vale of Glamorgan; • Completion in full of the "Northern Hub" cluster of rail enhancements with the approval of £322m of outstanding track and capacity upgrades across Manchester city centre, Manchester Airport and across to Liverpool. These are in addition to £477m of Northern Hub schemes already approved across the north of England such as electrification of the North Trans-Pennine route between York and Manchester. • A new £500m rail link between the Great Western Main Line and Heathrow.

I'll be covering all the reaction to this, and reporting on the joint Cameron/Clegg appearance later this morning.

Unfortunately I'll be wrapping up at lunchtime because I've got another engagement this afternoon.